Tie carrying rack



April 1958 J. B. VlDACH 2,828,865

TIE CARRYING RACK Filed July 21, 1955 IN V EN TOR.

John 5, Vz'dac'h ma-441 Ali army United States This invention relates toa simple and inexpensive tie rack;

It is the practice at present among tie cleaning establishments todeliver the ties to a customer by pinning them to an ordinary coathanger. Each tie is pinned individually and the entire lot of ties isexposed to dust, dirt and the like. The coat hanger is readilyunbalanced, takes up more space than is neecssary, and does not displaythe ties very conveniently.

It is an object of this invention to provide a tie rack which will holdties in place firmly without the use of pins.

As another object, this invention seeks the provision of a tie rackwhich is expendable so that a tie cleaning establishment can afford togive the racks away with each cleaning order.

For a further object this invention seeks the provision of a simple tierack having a fiat surface thereon sufiiciently large to permit theapplication of printed advertising matter thereon.

As .a specific object this invention has within its purview theprovision of a simple tie rack having a semiflexible support thereforwhich may be bent by the user to accommodate any type of supportcommonly used for ties or tie racks.

These and other objects of this invention will become apparent from thefollowing detailed description of the invention when taken together withthe accompanying drawings in which,

. Fig. l is a perspective view of a preferred embodiment of thisinvention;

Figs..2, 3 and 4 are perspective views of modifications of a portion ofthe rack of Fig. l; v

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of a further modification of .the rack ofFig. 1 showing the adaptability of the rack to different suspensions;and

Fig. 6 is a side elevational view of the rack of Fig. l on a reducedscale, showing the rack adapted for one specific mode of suspension.

The tie rack in any of its modifications is formed of two parts, namely,a U-shaped wire and a closure member extending across the open end ofthe U and slidable thereon toward and away from the bottom of the U. Theties are hung over the bottom of the U, and the closure member servesnot only to hold the ties in place on the rack but helps to prevent thesides of the U from distorting or spreading when the rack is filled withties.

Referring now to Fig. l, the rack is comprised of a single piece of wire10 bent in the form of a U having a short leg 11, a long leg 12 and astraight section 13 forming the bottom of the U. The wire is preferablymade of a non-corrodible material such as aluminum. The upper end of thelong leg 2 terminates in an eye 14 which performs a dual function,namely, that of providing a well rounded terminal for the wire toprevent damage by the wire to adjacent clothing, walls or the like, andsecond, that of providing a means by which the rack may be suspended.The latter function is shown atet more clearly in Fig. 6 and for thisfunction the leg 12 is preferably formed as a straight section of wire,the eye 14 being disposed in a plane transverse to the plane of the U sothat a nail or hook 15 may be passed through the eye and secured to awall 16 or other permanent structure. When the eye is so disposed andthe rack is suspended as shown in Fig. 6, the ties are held away fromthe wali and may be readily placed upon or removed from the rack withoutinterference with the wall.

As shown in dotted outline in Fig. 1, the ties 16 are supported from therack by folding them over the straight section 13 of the U. It iscontemplated that section 13 will be of suflicient length to accommodatethe Widest mid-portion of a tie in common use at present. The middleportions of most ties, however, are substantially the same width so thata plurality of ties can be folded upon a single section 13, one upon theother.

It may be apparent that when a rather large number of ties is placedupon straight section 13 and the rack is supported from leg 12, theeccentric loading on section 13 relative to leg 12 will tend to cause anopening up of the U, that is, to cause leg 11 to swing outwardly awayfrom leg 12. This situation is alleviated by the use of a closure member17 in the form of a solid bar as shown in Fig. 1, having preferablyparallel holes 18 and 19 near the ends thereof through which the legs 11and 12 pass. The closure member may be molded from any of the Well knownthermosetting or thermoplastic synthetic resins, or cut and machinedfrom aluminum or other bar stock. Said member 17 is preferably assembledrelative to leg 12 after the straight section 13 is formed but beforeeye 14 is completed and whileleg 12 is still in its straight form.

Closure member 17 is slidable on wire '10 and can be made normally torest upon the uppermost tie on the rack. Any eccentric loading onsection 13 tending to cause leg 11 to swing away from leg- 12 willresult in a binding of the wire in the openings 18 and 19 which createsa frictional resistance to the sliding movement of closure member 17.This frictionalresistance is utilized to help hold closure member 17 inplace, and particularly, to prevent said closure member frominadvertently sliding off the shorter leg 11, thereby making it possiblefor ties 16 to fall out of the rack. 7

If it is desired to suspend the rack from a clothes rod so that the rackcan be readily placed upon or removed from its support, the upper end 20of leg 12 may be bent in any desired direction and with any degree ofopening to accommodate the diameter and disposition of the rod uponwhich the rack is to be suspended. Thus, in the form shown in Fig. 1,the end 20 is bent in a plane at right angles to the plane of the U,making it possible to suspend the rack on a rod, the axis of which isgenerally parallel with the plane of the U. This form is also shown indotted outline at 211a in Fig. 5. Another form 20b is shown in solidlines in Fig. 5, Wherein the plane of the end 201; coincides with theplane of the U. The third form 200, shown in dotted outline in Fig. 5,is identical with the form shown in Fig. 6 and is utilized inconjunction with a nail, hook or other support extending outwardly froma Wall or the like. It is contemplated that the wire will besufliciently flexible to permit the average user to bend it to suit hisparticular situation.

The closure member 17 of Fig. 1 being a solid bar may require a drillingoperation for the formation of the openings 18 and 19, if made of metal,and somewhat elaborate or expensive molds if made of a synthetic resin.Less expensive forms of closure members are shown in Figs. 2, 3, 4 and5. Considering first the form shown in Fig. 2, the closure member 21 maybe made from a short length of aluminum channel section having parallelsides 22, 23 and a connecting Web or bottom section 24. A

pair of aligned openings 25 is punched in the sides 22 and 23 at one endthereof for the reception of one of the legs of the U-shaped wire 16,and similarly, a pair of openings 26 is punched in sides 22 and 23 atthe opposite end thereof to receive the other of the legs; The closuremember 21 is assembled with respect to wire 14} in precisely the samemanner as closure member 17. The channel section of the member providesstiffness for the member and presents a relatively broad surface insides 22 or 23 to the ties to prevent tearing or otherwise damaging saidties.

In Fig. 3, the closure member 27 is comprised of a rectangular piece ofsheet metal, preferably aluminum or other non-corrodible metal, the ends28 and 29 of which are curled over to form openings 30 and 31. The axesof openings 33 and 31 are substantially parallel and are spaced apart adistance sufficiently great to receive the legs 11 and 12 of wire 10.The tie-contacting side 32 of member 27 is deburred and preferablysmoothly rounded to prevent any damage to the ties by said closuremember.

In Fig. 4 is shown a closure member 33 made from a length of wire. Therequisite openings: at the ends thereof for receiving the legs 11 and 12are made by forming one or more loops in the ends of the wire. Where itis desired to minimize the tendency of the closuremember to bind on thelegs 11 and 12, the ends of the wire are coiled into helixes ofsufficient length to make certain that the desired sliding action willbe had. These helixes are shown at 34 and 35 in Fig. 4.

Yet another form of closure member 36 is shown in Fig. 5, said closuremember comprising a short length of aluminum channel section, somewhatsimilar to that of Fig. 2, the section being used in inverted positionand provided with openings 37, 38 in the bottom of the channel sectionthrough which the legs 11 and 12 extend.

A tie rack made in accordance with this invention and particularly inaccordance with the Fig. 1 form is shown in Fig. 6 assembled withrespect to a plurality of ties 16.

Access to straight section 13 is provided for the ties by slidingclosure member 17 upwardly until it is free of the short leg 11, afterwhich it may be held in elevated position, or turned about leg 12, whileties are placed upon section 13. When the ties are all in place on therack, opening 18 is realigned with the short leg and the closure memberis slid downwardly upon the ties. It may be apparent that closure member17 rests directly upon the uppermost tie, and due to the frictionalresistance produced between the closure member and the legs 11 and 12,the closure member will not be readily raised'and the ties pulledinadvertently out of the rack.

It may be observed that in the forms shown in Figs. 1, 2, 3 and 5, aflat surface 39, 4t 41 and 42, respectively, is provided to whichprinted matter may heapplied. Thus, if the rack is to be given away by atie cleaning establishment with the return of cleaned ties, the cleaningestablishment may utilize such flat surface to apply thereto a label ordecal containing the name and address of the cleaning establishment, orany other direction or slogan it may find desirable.

It is understood that the foregoing description is merely descriptive ofa preferred embodiment of the invention and that the scope of theinvention therefore is not to be limited thereto but is to be determinedby the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A tie rack comprising a length of wire bent in the form of a U havinga short and a long leg, and a closure member for the open end of the U,said closure member having spaced openings, one for each leg of the U,and said U-shaped wire passing through said openings with a snug fit tohold the closure member frictionally in any given position, said longleg having a straight section above the short leg and a bend thereinbeyond the straight section by which the rack may be hung, said closuremember being adapted to pivot about the straight section when the shortleg is free of its opening in the closure member to give acess to thebottom of the U for the folding of ties thereover.

2. A tie rack as described in claim 1, the short leg of the U-shapedwire being slightly divergent with respect to the long leg to producethe'snug fit as aforesaid.

3. A tie rack as described in claim 1,'said closure member comprising alength of wire having the ends thereof coiled in the form of helices theaxes of which are parallel, and said helices being spaced apart adistance substantially equal to the distance between the legs of the Usuch that said legs are adapted to be received 'in said helices.

4. A tie rack as described in claim 1, wherein the long leg terminatesin an eye by which the rack may be suspended, and further characterizedby the construction of the rack from wire of a material capable oftaking a permanent form when bent such that the long leg alternativelycan be bent above the straight section into a hook by which the rack maybe suspended.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS NorthMay 20, i952

